Great Egret

The Great Egret, or Eastern Great Egret, Ardea alba, is a large, all white heron. It can be up to 1m tall and have a wingspan of nearly 2m. In non-breeding plumage, the bill is yellow. When breeding, the bill turns black and long nuptial plumes develop on the back. Great Egrets fly with their neck retracted, and their feet extend well beyond their tail.

The Great Egret is a fairly cosmopolitan species. In Australia it is quite widespread, only avoiding the more arid regions. Inland and coastal wetlands, marshes, swamps, flooded paddocks, and shallow lakes and dams are its favourite habitats.

Small fish, frogs, crayfish and other aquatic animals, as well as a range of terrestrial insects, rodents and reptiles form its dietary requirements. The Great Egret generally breeds in colonies, sometimes alongside Ibis and Spoonbill, constructing their stick nests high in a tree near a water body.

During the 19^th century, the breeding plumes became a fashion accessory and the bird was hunted to near extinction in some countries.

For the bird nerds: the gape extends beyond the eye

Kangaroo Apple

This native shrub grows to a height of 3 or 4m in our district. Kangaroo Apple, Solanum aviculare, is native to eastern parts of Australia and New Zealand. It generally grows best in wet forest locations but can be found in a wide variety of habitats at times – roadsides, wasteland, etc.

Kangaroo Apple flowers and fruits in spring-summer. The blue-mauve flowers are pollinated by native bees and birds. Although the green, unripe fruit and leaves contain toxic alkaloids, the fully ripened yellow-orange fruit is regarded as a valuable bush food.

When young, the leaves are mostly lobed with a pattern similar to that of a kangaroo foot print. As the plant matures, the leaves mostly change to a long, lance shape.

In some countries Solanum aviculare is cultivated for the extraction of a compound used for the manufacture of contraceptives.

Kangaroo Apple has gained a reputation for being a hardy, fast-growing garden plant used for screening or sheltering other more sensitive plants.

 

 

Blue Flower Wasp

A recent trip to some favourite wildflower spots in the Westernport Bay region rewarded me with fields of Milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata) hosting a variety of pollinating insects – hoverflies, bees, and this large, Blue Flower Wasp, Austroscolia soror (most likely).

Blue Flower Wasps are sometimes named Black Flower Wasp or Hairy Blue Flower Wasp.

They belong to the scoliid family of parasitic wasps. The female lays her single egg on a species of beetle larvae. To locate her host, the female wasp will sometimes burrow into the ground or rotting log, or follow the tunnels used by the grubs. She stings the larvae to paralyse them before depositing her egg.

Adult Blue Flower Wasps feed on nectar. They can sting but are generally considered non-aggressive.

Wedding Bush

At present, the sandy, heathy woodlands around Westernport Bay is perfect habitat for the eye-catching native Ricinocarpos pinifolius or Wedding Bush.

This delightful shrub flowers abundantly at this time of year and the clusters of aromatic, daisy-like flowers are a magnet for a range of native pollinators.

Wedding Bush is endemic to south-eastern Australia from Tasmania to Queensland and is readily available at good nurseries. Wedding Bush will grow to 2 or 3m and prefers well drained light soil. Perhaps in a large tub in this district?

Oh, and yes, Wedding Bush flower essence is used for promoting “commitment, dedication, and follow-through in relationships, work, and personal goals” – apparently.

 

Bird's Nest Fungus

How obscure can fungi species get?

At Bunyip State Park Buttongrass Walk

The tiny Bird’s-nest Fungus, Nidula emodensis, measures only a few millimetres across. Inside the ‘nest’ are egg-like peridioles that contain the spore. The peridioles are scattered by raindrops that fall into the nest (not by a spring action built into the fungus as proposed by early researchers!).

At labertouche Creek Bushland Reserve

Nidula emodensis grows on decaying wood and or humus and is not a particularly uncommon fungus except that it is often missed due to its tiny size. There are several species in the genera. N. emdoensis usually appears in autumn.

Wax-lip Orchid

The Wax-lip Orchid is a deciduous terrestrial orchid that is fairly widespread through generally drier woodlands of South-east Australia. Some seasons they can be locally common.

Westernport woodlands is a good spot to see this beautiful orchid at the moment. Their bright colour and relatively large flower makes them one of the easier orchids to spot.

‘Glossodia’ means ‘similar to a tongue-shape’, referring to the labellum.

There are two species, G. major and G. minor and the two will sometimes hybridize – good luck!

Hoverflies appear to be a common pollinator

If you find a colony in flower, it is sometimes possible, after some searching, to find an aberrant all-white version.

Wax-lips seem to be one of the first spring orchids to appear. Always welcome.

Striated Fieldwren

I have posted on this bird before, but it is always a delight to see one of these cryptic little wrens. A recent visit to Reef Island in Westernport Bay re-acquainted me with Calamanthus fuliginosus (‘calamanthus’ = grass-dwelling or pipit-like, ‘fuliginosus’ = abounds with soot – go figure!).

The Striated Fieldwren is a bird of coastal understory habitat. It has pretty limited distribution to southern Victoria and parts of Tasmania and southern NSW.

Striated Fieldwrens can be difficult to see at times. They usually remain well hidden close to the ground in the grasses and salt marshes, seldom far from the shoreline in my experience. Spring is usually the best time to see one, as the males in particular often sing loudly from the tops of the vegetation.

Some references suggest the bird is classed as a vulnerable species due to habitat loss and predation, although both the Commonwealth’s EPBC Act and the Victorian F&FG Act do not have the species listed as threatened – at the moment.